What happens to our plastic bottles?
In 2017, Flight Plastics (now called Pact Packaging) closed the recycling loop by opening New Zealand’s first PET wash and recycling plant. PET plastics (plastic products with the RIC number 1) no longer need to be shipped overseas for processing.
PET plastic recycling process
This animated video from Flight Plastics (now called Pact Packaging) follows Barry, a water bottle, as he journeys from the recycling bin to a new life as a recycled food container.
In this activity, students are introduced to the PET plastic recycling process. They track a plastic bottle as it is transformed from a waste product to a new food-grade package at the Flight Plastics plant.
The activity is suitable for NZ Curriculum levels 1 and 2. It uses Ready to Read books and has visual and written literacy components.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
use visual resources to gain information about the plastic recycling process
discuss some of the steps involved in processing/recycling a PET plastic item
place the steps in the order they are likely to happen
consider how recycling fits into the use and reuse of plastics.
Discarded plastic bottle
New Zealanders use and discard approximately 20,000 tonnes of PET plastic each year. Some of it ends up as rubbish in our waterways and beaches.
Download the Word file (see link below) for:
background information for teachers
teacher instructions
student instructions.
